Many restaurants in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai are serving wild animals, but local authorities say it's hard to deal with the problem.

A porcupine stomach is priced at VND250,000

Son Thuy Restaurant in Kbang District’s Son Lang Commune, which is some 300 metres from the local people’s committee office, has become a popular place for connoisseurs of wild animal food.

Playing the role of being a customer who wanted to buy a large number of wild animal products, a reporter of Tien Phong Newspaper was warmly welcomed by the restaurant owner’s wife. She said that the restaurant had squirrel, weasel and wild pig meat.

According to the woman, one kilo of civet was sold at VND350,000 (USD15.21), while a porcupine stomach is priced at VND250,000. These are bought from traders in the local commune of Kon Pne, some 70 kilometres from the restaurant.

She added that many customers from Hanoi or HCM City also bought the meat from Kbang District. Her restaurant even re-sold dozens of deer.

The reporter came to An Khuong Restaurant in the local town of KBang. A young woman invited him to enjoy different kinds of dishes made from wild animals such as steamed weasel. They also provide the shipping service for customers who are far from the restaurant.

Despite the rampant wild animal trading, Truong Thanh Ha, head of Kbang District’s forest management board, said that his agency has not yet caught wild animal poaching cases so far this year. Only one raid took place last year.

Ha admitted the situation that people used hand-made tools to hunt for wild animals. These cases have mostly detected at Kon Ka Kinh National Park. Restaurants in this area have signed in a commitment not to use and smuggle wild animals.

According to Ha, it is quite hard to deal with the wild animal trading as violators use motorbikes or tourism cars for transportation.

Truong Van Nam, an official from Gia Lai Province’s Forest Protection Department, said the locality is home to 597,000 hectares of natural forest.

The department has issued many regulations on forest protection and wild animal trading and hunting. This year, the agency seized two cases of wild animal smuggling related to civets and snakes. He vowed to deal with the violations.